U.s. And The World

April 10, 1986|The Morning Call

To the Editor:

I am 14 years old, and I have very strong opinions about world affairs, and due to news events in the past several weeks these opinions have been affected greatly due to the encounter with Libya that the U.S. 6th Fleet had with Libyan forces.

First, I was very happy to see the president use the power of his office. I think we have taught Mr. Khadafy that we are not a country to push around, and should we be provoked again, I hope the president will take appropriate action and send the 6th Fleet back to the Gulf of Sidra.

Second, thanks to the encounter in the Gulf of Sidra, the United States exercised its right to patrol international waters, and if we should be attacked, we have the right to defend ourselves. Our country allowed Libya its 12-mile territorial limit, but claiming that the Gulf of Sidra was theirs, they attacked us, and I do not feel that was right.

Third, in the past several years we have all seen defense spending become catastrophically enormous in proportion to our defense needs. I was glad to see that this money is being put into essential peace-keeping work in which we are protecting the interests of the United States and its allies.

To make it clear, I do not want war, and I am sure some of the parents of the servicemen who make up the crews of the 6th Fleet were very worried. But, I am sure all of us want to get rid of terrorists, terrorism and all countries who back it. This is a world problem, and the nations of the world must help each other to defeat the terrorists who are ruining our travel plans and making us feel unsafe in our own homes.